Cant separate 2-spline PTO shaft in order to cut it

[LouNY]

If your shaft is extending and closing easily untill it seems to hit a stop I would be leery of hitting it or pulling it with force.
I do not recall ever seeing a two spine pto shaft, how about some photos.
I have seen some old rectangular shafts that had a stop pin for extension,
the pin rode in a slot cut in the sides of the receiving rectangle.

I forgot to mention the rectangular with a stop pin was a while ago,
it was old enough to have a steel tube guard on it.

 

[Mat4644]

PTO shaft was probably bottomed out at some point in it's life and the ends deformed a little. Catches on the deformed ends.

 

[Tx Jim]

I've never seen telescoping pto shafts that had a stop/catch to stop them from sliding apart. Maybe rust & dirt binding but not catch. Ditto on utilizing Kroil or PB Blaster

 

[WranglerX]

PTO shaft was probably bottomed out at some point in it's life and the ends deformed a little. Catches on the deformed ends.

I'm with you..... Probable been hammers to much in collapsed direction and ends of both inner and outer are deformed....

Dale

 

[Westonium]

I've never seen telescoping pto shafts that had a stop/catch to stop them from sliding apart. Maybe rust & dirt binding but not catch. Ditto on utilizing Kroil or PB Blaster

DING DING DING WINNER WINNER CHICKEN DINNER!

So, out of desperation I cut it to get it apart. And? It has a steel cable down the middle to keep it from extending too far. Sturdy too! We did use two trees and two comealongs with a fair amount of force, but it would not separate!

So, I cut it, and there's a CABLE in the middle. Is that common? Seems functional without the cable, and with it being used on a towed generator, there's no obvious way it would slide apart in use. I am going to continue working on this. I only now saw the newer replies. Thanks everyone. I will get pictures up.

 

[Westonium]

DING DING DING WINNER WINNER CHICKEN DINNER!

So, out of desperation I cut it to get it apart. And? It has a steel cable down the middle to keep it from extending too far. Sturdy too! We did use two trees and two comealongs with a fair amount of force, but it would not separate!

So, I cut it, and there's a CABLE in the middle. Is that common? Seems functional without the cable, and with it being used on a towed generator, there's no obvious way it would slide apart in use. I am going to continue working on this. I only now saw the newer replies. Thanks everyone. I will get pictures up.

Shared album - Ken Weston - Google Photos

Shared album - Ken Weston - Google Photos

We did all that work, but the shaft must be slightly damaged because it still won't compress enough. At first, it just wasn't possible, but even shortened it won't. It's a bit weird. I am looking for replacements now, but I will start a different thread I think.

 

[Mat4644]

Very interesting. First time I've seen on a PTO shaft.

 

[lennyzx11]

Shared album - Ken Weston - Google Photos

Shared album - Ken Weston - Google Photos

We did all that work, but the shaft must be slightly damaged because it still won't compress enough. At first, it just wasn't possible, but even shortened it won't. It's a bit weird. I am looking for replacements now, but I will start a different thread I think.

Did you cut Both pieces off?
The inner slides inside but the outer has to be cut some also to allow the inner to travel in.
Don’t laugh. I’ve seen it more than once!

 

[Tx Jim]

Yepper 1st time I ever heard of/seen a cable limiting the length of extension of telescoping pto shafts.

 

[Henro]

How does one secure a short cable like that cable inside a PTO shaft?

Obviously it was pretty well attached as the OP mentions applying a fair amount of force when attempting to pull the shaft apart.